Encore
by sophieashwood
Summary: Gray and Cana unknowingly take missions to two brothers who run opposing Circuses who have decided to come together for one big show. But while Gray and Cana must perform their assigned jobs, a strange string of murders start appearing around them. Now the old friends must work together to protect the people of the Circus and each other...


Encore Chapter 1: Another Day in Paradise

It was late into a clear night in the town of Magnolia. And along the coast of the city, evidence of a large celebration taking place at the Fairy Tail Guild was finally quieting down with only a few stragglers still left inside. Cana and Lucy were two of these stragglers as they sat comfortably at the bar.

"Another round Mira!" Cana's voice rang out happily, her signature hand signal for the call high in the air.

"Cana..." Lucy interjected in a drowsy tone, "I think I'm done"

"With the Appletini, so am I" Cana said as she drained the last little bit of the concoction from the delicate glass, "Let's move it up to a hard lemonade"

"No, no!" Lucy said hastily as she threw her arms in a sporadic movement, "I mean of all alcohol tonight"

The card mage sighed in annoyance, "You can't be done already, and we haven't even gotten close to hard liquor yet!"

"I don't have your iron kidney Cana!" Lucy exclaimed as she almost fell off the stool

"Hey don't get snappy at me" Cana said putting a steady hand on Lucy's shoulder, "You're the one that wanted my help so you wouldn't have a repeat of what happened at the beach training trip"

Lucy's head slumped and landed with a thud on the bar, "Can we not talk about that please"

"Don't worry Lucy-Nee!" Romeo exclaimed as he slid into the bar stool on the opposite side of Cana, "I'll take your place"

"See Lucy, that's the kind of enthusiasm you need!" Cana smiled

"I don't think so" Mirajane said as she snatched away a bottle away from Romeo

"But Mira-nee-"

"Don't Mira-nee me Romeo, you're not old enough" Mira said firmly as she wagged her finger at him, "Besides I don't think Wendy wants a guy that drinks"

The teen fire mage immediately turned bright red, "Wh...Why does it matter what Wendy likes in a guy?"

A sweet yet evil smile crawled over Mira's lips, "Well, aren't you two planning on going to some Circus event, Wonderland Palooza, when it comes to Magnolia next month?"

"Th…that was a private conversation Mira-nee!" Romeo exclaimed as he slammed his fists onto the bar in embarrassment

"Nothing is considered private with Mira" Lucy said in a matter-of-fact tone as she shot a glazed glare to the bar maid who happily ignored her comment as she continued to clean glasses.

"I'm go...going to go see Natsu-nii" Romeo said, doing the smart thing by leaving immediately before he could be tortured anymore by the she-demon.

"Come on Lucy" Cana said turning her attention back to the blonde as she blew a noise maker, "It's my birthday, you can't quit on the birthday girl"

"Technically it's only your guild birthday" Lucy said as she gratefully took a glass of water that Mira offered her

"Still I'm 20 in guild membership from the time skip; I'm legal to drink in whichever way you go!" Cana exclaimed enthusiastically

"Well I'm still under aged" Lucy said getting off the stool and would have collapsed if she didn't have the bar to support her, "So I'm going home"

"You're going to need help getting home" Mira said concerned

"I'll go home with you Lucy" Happy said as he flew under her arm to help hold her up, "I don't think Natsu's going to be done for a while" The exceed motioned to his friend who was in the middle of a violent match between him and Gajeel.

This was not an unusual match up, but it was defiantly odd considering that Gray had abruptly left in the middle of his match with Natsu earlier and peeled out of the guild hall before anyone could ask what was up with him, with the trying-not-to-be-so obvious Juvia following close behind him. Apparently though, Gray had been avoiding Natsu a lot lately, but when anyone tried to ask what was going on, he would reply annoyed with _"I'm just more irritated with that flame brain idiot right now, that's all"_

"Night everyone" Lucy mumbled as she and Happy began leaving

"I'll send Natsu over later to help you get into pjs" Mira called out happily, which earned her a slurry reply that Lucy would be locking her windows tonight

"Buzz kill" Cana yelled to Lucy as she took a swig out of the unfinished bottle of mead Gray had been drinking out of before he had split

"Cana" Mira said in a slight warning tone

"What?" The card mage said as she hopped up onto the bar to adjust to her usual drinking position, "It's the first rule of alcohol, unattended bottles are free game"

"I'm just worried if Juvia comes back" Mira said as she began picking up discarded plates of food, "She seemed hurt earlier that you and Gray shared an indirect kiss"

"She looked more like she was going to beat me into a bloody pulp, don't know why she still acts like this though since those two were all touchy, feely during GMG" Cana said as she smiled, "And she blushed whenever they sat next to each other, she's so cute"

"Are you ever going to ever tell Juvia that you've done more with Gray than just indirect kisses?" Mira asked as she leaned closer to the card mage, as if she was expecting some long, dramatic answer

Cana snickered as she munched on a piece of Mira's famous Rum cake that was still leftover on her plate, "Not if I want to die"

"I'm being serious"

"So am I, there's no point" Cana droned out, "It was a long time ago, and if Gray wants to tell Juvia one day when they are finally a couple, then I won't deny anything"

"You've been drinking a lot more though" Mira said as she laid her chin in her hands, "Trouble in the love department?"

"Nothing to concern yourself with" Cana then smirked, "Besides you've got Freed now, you should be focusing on your love life more now"

"I don't need to focus on it a lot though since you also have a keen interest on keeping an eye on it as well" Mira said as Cana just shrugged

"Hey I just want to know more about him since he's been so shy for so long" Cana said as she turned so she faced Mira, "And asking how he is in bed is a valid question, I wasn't even entirely sure if he liked women or not"

"Well I can tell you he does with the kinky games he loves to play... and that's all you need to know" Mira said as she tapped the tip of Cana's nose, "Now go home, with the way you've been drinking and partying tonight is only going to get you into more trouble than good right now"

Cana annoyingly blew a piece of hair out of her face as she grabbed her purse and got off the bar, "You really can be a demon Mira, teasing me like this"

"Night Cana" Mira replied with as the brunette easily dodged a stool that flew at her head and exited out of the guild.

* * *

Cana loved the nights around this time of year when it was still cold enough to nip her lungs. It allowed her to stay awake during the nights, watching everything through a warm, drunken, haze. When summer came around though, the swelting nights always made her want to curl up in a ball and fall asleep in the middle to the road, something she tried to avoid, but it had happened once or twice. This would force her to have to do most of her heavy drinking at home then, which was just as lonely as it sounded.

Of course she could always go to a local bar and pick someone she could go home with, that would at the very least get her a few more shots of some hard liquor and a bottle of wine back at his place. But what was she hungry for tonight? The aspiring writer always certainly had an imagination, but they often talked way too much. Out doing the average playboy was always good time, then again that more or less lead to him wanting a threesome, and Cana realized after one experience that she didn't like sharing. Then there was giving an out of Towner the full Magnolia welcoming experience, even better if he was staying at a fancy Inn, of course when his wife would call on a communication lacrima the next morning to check on her wonderful hubby, Cana would be literally thrown out of his room making her feel stupid for not realizing he was married and that she was being treated as some cheap slut.

The card mage growled in frustration. What was wrong with her? I mean she couldn't even pick a one night stand for fuck sakes even with all the choices she had sampled in mind.

Maybe that was the problem, was her sex life really that predictable?

A loud explosion shocked Cana out of her mindless wandering and nearly knocked her to the ground. She spied the cloud of smoke coming only from a few streets away. The card mage's automatic reaction as a Fairy Tail mage kicked in and she immediately took off.

After running for a few blocks, Cana ended up at a bridge that was on the edge of town. There she found Gray fighting some girl, and from the looks of it he was getting worked as the remaining clothes he had on were greatly torn and he was covered in wounds.

The girl looked equally beaten up and scarier with her ravaged with her wide eyes and torn nightgown.

Cana reached into her purse and pulled out her cards and took a firm stance to strike. The stance didn't last long though as Cana's knees gave out, causing her to nearly collapse.

"Shit" Cana hissed as the world started spinning, "I hate it when Mira's right"

**ICE MAKE: LANCE**

Gray commanded as long ice lances shot out of him and headed straight for the girl. But she easily dodged the attack by leaping into the air and lightly landing on top of a lamp post.

Damn it" Gray said annoyed, his cheek stinging from his snarl of where this insane girl had clawed him with her nails, no they had been claws, some sort of animal claws that had actually broken skin.

Don't get Gray wrong, it could be worse than having to fight a very attractive girl in a nightgown, although it was kinda distracting anytime her straps slipped down and the hen hiked up. But when he left the guild, he just wanted to be alone and clear his head, he even sent Juvia home when he felt her presence behind him.

He wasn't alone for long though as Gray came to the outskirts of town to walk right into the middle an assault that was happening right on the other side of the bridge.

A young man was being pinned the ground by his attacker as clutched a small wooden chest to him tightly. His attacker was a teenage girl, who couldn't have been older than 16, straddled the man with one hand crushed over his mouth to suppress his screams, her nails digging into his cheeks. Her other hand was being used to make an attempt at ripping the chest from the man's grasp.

Gray wasted no time in crossing the bridge and he ripped the girl off the man, who hastily crawled away to hide behind some barrels that were on one of the tiny docks. The girl didn't take it too lightly that she had lost hold of her prey and turned her attention to Gray.

Using some type of Earth mage, she had begun pelting Gray with large chunks of rock that she summoned from the ground after getting the upper hand from her sharp nails. The hundreds of small shards tore his clothes and sliced his skin leaving a stinging sensation, but it was nothing that could take Gray down. The ice mage managed to hit her with his counterattacks 2 out of 3 times in the duration of their battle, it was like she wasn't even caring to protect her body at all.

**HEAVEN AND WIND: WIND EDGE**

The girl was then violently knocked off the top of the lamp-post and slammed into the side of the bridge, causing a giant a large chunk of the bridge to break off with the girl as she plummeted into the river.

"About time you showed up here Cana!" Gray said as he turned to find his friend, he could tell her magic better than anyone else's

"You're welcome Gray" The brunette said as she was putting all her weight on her knees, stupid alcoholic had probably drunk herself numb

The girl then maliciously crawled out of the river on her hands and knees, her yellow eyes boring deep into Gray and Cana.

No that's not right, Gray could have sworn they had been blue a second ago.

She then reached up to her right arm that was hanging limply and roughly popped it back into its socket.

Gray cringed slightly in disgust at the crackling sound.

The girl then threw her fists into the air and slammed them onto the ground. Multiple cracks appeared from the ground, lava spewing between them.

**KING OF WANDS**

Cana shouted as she slapped the card onto her chest and grabbed Gray's arm. The magic took an immediate effect as Cana was able to get both of them away from the erupting earth thanks to her enhanced speed.

Cana stumbled slightly as she planted them firmly on the other side of the girl. A curse hissed through her teeth as there was a bright red burn mark running up the side of her leg, she hadn't moved fast enough from the lava.

**ICE MAKE: GYSER**

Gray slammed his magic charged fists into the ground, the ice managed to freeze shot back up through the ground and froze the lava as it towered above Gray and Cana in a frozen mass, but the spell didn't hit the girl.

She took advantage of the distraction and flew over to the mages. The girl's fist made contact with Cana's face. Gray reacted quickly by pivoting his foot and slammed the full force of his body into the girl's shoulder, causing her to tumble a few feet away.

"You bitch!" Cana yelled as she blood dripped from her nose

The girl didn't seem to be phased at all by Cana's insult as she brought up both of her hands and started making a pulling motion with them. Another rumbling sound arose as Cana and gray turned to see the hill that was behind them start to breakaway and come towards the mages in a rocky and muddy landslide.

**ICE MAKE: COCOON**

A protective ice barrier formed around them in time as the sea of earth crashed into the cocoon. The two stood back to back as Gray could see the girl's face into an animal like snarl with a pair a sharp fangs gleaming maliciously at him.

"What is this chick?" Cana grumbled as she knelt closer to the ground, probably from the burn on her leg stinging, "She's strong, but her eyes say she's hollow and almost inhuman"

"I don't know what she is exactly" Gray said as tried to keep most of his concentration on keeping the cocoon together as more earth fell around them, "But, she's slower than was, she's just taking these hits, it's hurting her physically"

"Well then stay back, I'll hit her with everything I got" Cana said as she divided her needed cards in her hands, "She's not gonna get away with trying to ruin my face, this sexy smile is all natural you know"

Gray smirked, "Dropping the cocoon…NOW!"

**SHURIKEN CARDS**

With one hand, Cana launched the cards at high speed. They hit the girl sharply, slicing all over her body as blood poured from her wounds.

The girl screamed in pain, but before she could react, Cana was all ready for her second attack.

**LIGTHENING, REVERSE TOWER, LOVERS: JOLT OF FATE**

A large bolt materialized out of nowhere and stuck directly onto the girl. A strangled scream roared out the girl's mouth as she fell to her knees and landed on the ground with a hard thud. She lied there without even so much as twitching, it was over with.

Both mages let out a sigh of relief as Cana fell onto her butt and Gray leaned back to allow his spine to gratefully crack.

"Hey it's safe now" Gray called out as he began walking over to the barrels where the victim dove for protection, "She's down and-"

Gray was cutoff as the man popped up and threw an empty barrel at Gray, who managed to bat it aside, and the guy was half way down the grassy path that lined this side of the bridge with the chest still grasped tightly in his arms.

The ice mage sighed as he rubbed his probably bruised knuckles, "Save someone's life from a psychotic girl and don't get so much as a thank you"

The girl then groaned and began clambering back onto her feet, she just didn't quit. But before Gray could make any kind of move, Cana quickly reached into her purse, pulled out what was probably one of her many to-go booze bottle, and slammed it over the girl's head, knocking her back out.

"Yep, just another day in paradise" Cana said as she threw the rest of the broken bottle that was in her and over her shoulder, "You owe me a bottle of scotch"

Gray ignored Cana as he looked at the damage around him. The soldiers stationed in the town would be here in about 10 minutes, which meant an hour and a half of interrogation, an obscene bill for the damages that had been caused, not to mention he would probably have to do something with the drunk that was now flopped out on the ground moaning.

Wanting to avoid the repetitive and time consuming hassle, Gray turned to back to the beaten girl.

**ICE MAKE: PRISION**

The commanded object appeared right over the girl and secured itself tightly to the ground, it would last until the soldiers arrived.

Gray than reached into his wallet and pulled out a card that the master made every member carry that read _"My apologies for the inconvenience. Please charge any damages to Fairy Tail."_

The ice mage was about to stick the card on the prison when a pain shot up through his ribcage, it didn't feel like anything was broken, but it still hurt like hell. He hadn't realized he had taken such a beating from this girl with her insane amount of power; he would leave a little warning on the back of the card as well.

"Got a pen?" Gray asked, and without even looking Cana reached into her purse, pulled out, and tossed him a pen. How woman were able to have some psychic connection with their purses was still something that was far above Gray's knowledge.

Gray wrote the note and stuck it to the ice prison. He stole another glance to make sure the girl was still out cold. Gray had come to appreciate ever since Galuna that he had friends like Cana who always seemed to appear to offer a helping hand.

Course they also always seemed to be more trouble that they were worth.

Like at this moment, when Gray pulled Cana to her feet, she leaned heavily against Gray and gently rested her head on his bare shoulder.

Right before she grabbed her stomach, leaned over and hurled right onto Gray's shoes.

Yep, like Cana had said, just another day in paradise.


End file.
